In a sign that he wants to distance himself from the president – to whom he lost in an ugly campaign in 2000 – Sen McCain outlined a series of measures to roll back Bush policies and counter the “ugly American” image.

“I would immediately close Guantanamo Bay, move all the prisoners to Fort Leavenworth (an army base in Kansas) and truly expedite the judicial proceedings in their cases,” he said. “I would reaffirm my commitment to address the issue of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. I know how important this is in Europe in particular.”

John Weaver, Sen McCain’s chief strategist, confirmed his plans for a markedly more conciliatory foreign policy. “The next president will have to work extra hard to unite our friends and divide our foes. Sadly the opposite has occurred in recent years,” he said, as Sen McCain addressed a crowded hall in the farming community of Cedar Falls.

“John believes that you can accomplish a lot more in this world by sticking to your principles, while adopting a much more humble tone with your partners.”

Now I love John McCain’s views on the war and spending, but this kind of stuff really infuriates me – and I know I’m not the only one.

Perhaps he needs to realize that while the “ugly American” image may be true, the problem is not with what America is doing, but how his buddies across the pond view it. Does he really think that closing Gitmo is going to assuage the pansies and feckless Europeans? If he does, then maybe he’s not as smart as I think.

And what’s what this “humbleness” garbage? That’s talk straight out of the Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid playbook. How are we to “humble” enough to satisfy the French and Germans, who didn’t want us to go into Iraq in the first place? The fault lies not with us, but with them. And let’s be honest here, other than the Brits what could “old Europe” really offer us militarily? A unit or two. Hell, most of the armies over their are constabulary forces at best.

And the whole climate change talk is foolish. If McCain was so concerned about it why didn’t he vote for Kyoto when he had the chance? Is destroying our economy worth getting some good press in Europe? Hey Senator, maybe you can help out Al Gore when he testifies before Congress next week on the issue. Will you be collaborating on “An Inconvenient Truth, Part Deux”?

Let me tell you why climate change is a big deal in Europe Senator. It’s because it’s the only way that they can even hope to try and be competitive with us economically. You see, they want our economy to go in the toilet so they’ll have company. Unlike America, nations in Europe are pretty much models of socialism, and not surprisingly are stagnant and shrinking. So like true socialists they want everyone to be equally miserable. So while their misery is caused by foolish work rules and welfare states, they want our economy to be miserable from all the regulations and higher costs associated with “correcting” climate change.

Really Senator, you do have some conservative credentials to run on. Remember that you’re running for the nomination of the Republican party – in America. There’s a reason many conservatives don’t like or trust you – and by talking like this you’re not helping your cause.

Update: BDP, you know I am not where Sen. McCain is on this particular issue. And yet, I think your suggestion that the question at hand vis a vis climate change is whether we embrace Al Gore-inspired, Kyoto-style restrictions or do nothing at all is simplistic. So that we are absolutely clear about what John McCain is saying on the sump about climate change, here you go:

Again, I’m not where McCain is on the matter of climate change, but if the end result is that we build more nuke plants, I’m not exactly bothered by it.